What do we do with our blogs?

Just this week I was talking with a prospect and realized...

...Marketers don’t know wtf to do with their blog.

Have you noticed this, too?

There’s been this dramatic shift to more first person POV content –– I “blame” this on the rise of podcasting and short form video, particularly in B2B. People expect to be closer to the people and companies they buy from –– and with that, many blogs have either been on low maintenance mode or even abandoned altogether.

Instead, marketers are spending more time on LinkedIn, recording and guesting on podcasts, and sending newsletters.

So again, where does that leave the blog?

Here, I would caution us all to learn from history –– the blog is going nowhere. Just like email and even outbound never went anywhere.

But, nothing stays the same. And neither should the way we used to blog.

Here’s how I’ve been drawing things for the teams I’m working with…

Start with an anchor––something all of the channels and mediums are tied to.

A good anchor is typically something recurring (like a podcast, regular interviews, short form videos, etc.) that you can use to consistently extract insights from that will inspire various pieces across all of the channels and mediums you care about.

A good anchor is not about a medium, but the IP. (A big change from where we were before –– we created blog posts, and social posts, etc., and focused heavily on the medium rather than the IP behind it/driving it.)

You then use those insights to inform all of the channels/mediums you invest in.

And that’s where I think the blog comes into play.

The blog is for reporting.

Let’s say your anchor is an interview series where you talk to startup founders on the pains and challenges of moving upmarket.

On the blog, you report on what was discussed.

• Here’s the information we learned on a specific topic.
• The qualitative and quantitive insights that were shared.
• Here’s how [subject A] approaches X, Y, and Z.

You’re reporting on information from the anchor. This marches the medium well (blogging) as a blog post is more evergreen––people will find and hopefully learn from it long after it’s published.

Now compare this a newsletter.

Your newsletter is your column.

Here’s where you and others on your team discuss those insights/stories from the angle of, “here’s what I/we think this all means.”

Here, you’re not reporting. You’re sharing unique experiences, observations, and insights that help your audience place the reporting happening on your blog within context. They get to know you, your team, and your approach.

This matches the medium. Most folks subscribe to newsletters to hear/learn from unique voices rather than get a readout/listicle of information.

So, I wanted to share this thought process here as it’s been helpful to a number of clients recently.

If your blog feels like it’s going, or has gone through, an identity crisis over the last year or so, I can tell you that you’re not alone in feeling that way.

But your blog can still serve a purpose greater than a dumping ground for keywords or podcast transcripts.